The annual Risk Reduction Awards Ceremony was held on Wednesday, 23rd March, under the theme “Taking Bold and Transformative Steps Toward Resilience”.
The event was held at the office of Alliance Insurance Services which has been the faithful sponsor of the award for the past 12 years. Emerging winner of the coveted award, for the second consecutive year, was the Health Promotion Unit.
Following a prayer by the 2012 award winner, Nurse Serene Carter-Davis, Insurance Broker, Mr. Jervis Richardson, spoke on behalf of Alliance Insurance Services as he welcomed the gathering.
Mr. Richardson said that the noble initiative taken on by Alliance Insurance Services is to recognise excellence in risk reduction by individuals, agencies, institutions and groups in the community, who contribute in an outstanding manner to reducing disaster risks for a safer country. He said: “Risk reduction is vital to building a more equitable and sustainable future.”
Director of Alliance Insurance Services, Ms. Sandra Lovell, said: “Climate change and non-communicable diseases continue to be a threat locally regionally and globally as communities and families around the world are being devastated by droughts, floods, more intense hurricanes, unpredictable storms and sea level rise. When disaster strikes, it is always the more vulnerable who suffer the most.
“I would like to remind all the residents of Anguilla that it should be our vision and mission to focus on the important task of building resilient communities so that we can protect the country and its people from future disasters. Each of us, whether in the public or private sector, should commit to work hard in a proactive and responsible manner to achieve the vision of building towards a sustainable, resilient future in a Covid transformed world.”
Director of the Department of Disaster Management, Mr. Calvin Samuel said that while we should do what we can to mitigate disasters and reduce risks by making efforts to eliminate tangible hazards, we must also focus on the intangibles such as a sound community spirit – governance structures; sociological structures; sound partnerships and the proper raising of our children. “These, he said, “are also important to risk reduction.”
Deputy Governor Mr. Perin Bradley also focused on encouraging residents to develop and maintain acceptable community-based structures that would serve toward the importance of risk reduction.
The presentation of this year’s award was made to Mrs. Jennifer Gumbs of the Health Promotion Unit. In addition, a cheque of US$400.00 was given to the Unit. In responding, Mrs. Gumbs thanked Alliance Insurance Services. She also expressed her appreciation to her team of associates and coworkers for the hard work and commitment they exhibited in making efforts to reduce risks in their field of work.
She said: “Our unit is a small unit, but we have a large team spirit. This is a large team of community supporters. I think this is one of the qualities that has caused us to win this award again this year. We don’t just perform our duties alone, but we do our jobs in collaboration with others who we rely on and look to for the necessary support that we need.”
The Vote of Thanks was delivered by the Moderator, Mr. Alwyn Richardson of the Department of Disaster Management.
The key criteria for meeting consideration for the Risk Reduction Award include: creating a safety and risk reducing set of activities which would stimulate knowledge of various health risks and focus on disease prevention; improving the ability to indentify and abate unsafe conditions and practices; facilitating accountability and improvement through evaluation and monitoring; and developing an educational programme or component to benefit the national risk reduction programme.
